Lumber-trimmer.



I. B. ST. LOUIS, Sn. & E. E. JOHNSON.

LUMBER TRIMMER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26.191?.

Patentd Aug. 7, 1917.

" UE STATS PATENT FFCFA.

J'OHN- B. ST. LOUIS, SR., .AND ELENE E. JOHNSON, OF EVERETT, WASHINGTON.

LUMBER-TRIMMER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 7, 1917.

Application filed February 26, 1917. Serial No. 151,129.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that we, JOHN B. ST. Louis, Sr., and ELENE E. JOHNSON, citizens of the United States, residing at Everett, in the county of Snohomish and State of l/Vashington, have invented aV certain new and use ful Improvement in Lumber-Trimmers, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in lumber trimmers of that class examples of which are illustrated in United States Letters Patent No. 387,604 granted to John B. St. Louis on date of August7, 1888; and the object of our invention is to provide a lumber trimmer which shall embody a plurality of circular saws rotatably mounted each on a different one of a plurality of levers all of which levers shall be pivotally Amounted on suitable supports to adapt them to be swung in parallel vertical planes, each independently, which planes'shall be so relatively spaced each from the others that certain ones of said levers may be actuated to cause their saws simultaneously to cut a piece of lumberl to be a required even num ber of feet long, and that certain other ones of said levers may be actuated to cause their saws simultaneously to cut a piece of lumber to be a required odd number of feet long, Without changing the lengthwise positions of said pieces, whereby, in many instances, pieces of lumber may be trimmed each to be one foot longer than would be possible when employing lumber trimmers heretofore made, which additional foot of each of said pieces represents a saving in lumber that may be effected by the employmentV of our invention.

We accomplish this object by devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings where- 1n- Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan View of a lumber trimmer showing portions which embody our invention; and

Fig. 2 is a View of the same in vertical section on broken line 2, 2 of Fig. 1.

`Referring to the drawings, throughout which like reference numerals indicate like parts, 3 and 4 respectively designate the rearward and frontward top side rails of a supporting frame which side rails 3 and 4 are rigidly united by top end rails (of which only the end rail 5 is shown) and by spaced intermediate top cross rails 6,' 7, 8, 9,10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,17, 18 and19 said intermediate cross rails being of lengths to project their respective opposite end portions for a distance beyond the outer edges of the top side rails 3 and 4.

rlhe rearward top side rail 3 is fastened to and supported by a suitable number of vertically disposed studs, of which only the studs 2O are shown; and the frontward top side rail 4 is fastened to and supported by an equal number of shorter studs of which only the stud 21 is shown; said studs 2O and 21 being secured to and supported by bottom rearward and frontward side rails 22 and 23, respectively, as shown in Fig. 2.

The frontward studs 21 being shorter than the rearward studs 20, the top end rails, as the end rail 5, and the cross rails designated by numerals 6 to 19 inclusive, are disposed to incline from the front side to the rear side of said supporting frame as shown in Fig. 2.

Extending throughout the length of said supporting frame is a driving shaft 24 which is rotatably disposed in bearings 25 which are fastened to the back side surface of the upper end portions of the vertical studs 20, which driving shaft 24 may be rotated by means not shown.

Fastened on said shaft 24 are a plurality of sprocket wheels 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32 each of which is disposed between the rearwardly projecting end portions of different adjacent ones of the intermediate top Vcross rails 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, l2, 13, 14, 15, 16,

17, v18 and 19, so that its periphery registers with the top surfaces of said rearwardly projecting end portions as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Rotatably mounted in each of the pairs of bearing brackets 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39, which are fastened to the under side of the frontwardly projecting end portion of said different adjacent ones of said cross rails, is a sprocket wheel, as sprocket wheels 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 and 46, whose periphery registers with the top surfaces of said frontwardly projecting end portions, and operatively mounted on oppositely disposed ones of said sprocket wheels (as sprocket wheels 26 and 40, 27 and 41, 28 and 42, 29 and 43, 30 and 44, 31 and 45, and 32 and 46),v to extend therebetween, is an endless conveyer chain belt, as conveyer chain belts 47, 48, 49, 5o, 51, 52 and 5a The endless conveyer chain belts 47, 48,

49, 50, 51, 52 and 53 have certain ones of their links provided with engaging members 54 which, in the course of the travel of said chain belts, project above the top surface of said intermediate top cross rails to engage with pieces of lumber that may be `disposed on said cross rails thus to move said pieces of lumber in a sidewise direction to convey them from the lower frontward ends of said cross rails to and beyond the upper ends thereof in response to a rotation of the shaft 24 in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2.

In the same vertical plane to the rearward of the shaft 24 are a plurality of suitably braced shaft hangers 56, 57, 58 and 59 which project downwardly from supports not shown to terminate at a horizontal plane higher than said shaft 24, and to the front surface of each of said hangers is fastened a bracket, as brackets 60, 61, 62, 63 and 64 to each of which is articulated one end of an arm (as arms 65, 66, 67, 68 and 69 respectively) which extend forwardly over the supporting frame that is crossed by the conveyer chain belts 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 and 53 to be swingingly movable in a vertical plane in response to vertical movements of a connecting rod (as connecting rods 70) which may be actuated by means not shown.

Rotatably disposed in each of bearings formed one on the forward end portion of each of the arms 65, 66, 67, 68 and 69, is a shaft (like the shaft 71 shown more clearly in Fig. 2) upon one end of which is mounted a circular saw, as saws 72, 73, 74, 75 and 76, and upon the other end of which is a pul ley, as pulleys 77, 7S, 79, 80 and 81 respectively.

Rigidly secured to the rearward surface of each of the hangers 55, 56, 57, 5S and 59 is a box bearing, as bearings 82, within which is rotatably disposed a driving shaft S3 to which rotary motion may be communicated by means not shown.

Securely fastened on the shaft S3 are a plurality of pulleys S4, 85, S6, 87, and 88 that are respectively disposed to register with the pulleys 77, 7 S, 7 9, 80 and 81 which may be rotated by belts 89, 90, 91, 92 and 93, respectively, response to a rotation of the driving shaft 83, thus to revolve the circular saws 72, 73, 74, 75 and 76 respectively.

Normally all of the arms 65, 66, 67, GS and 69 are supported by their connecting rod 70 in the position to maintain the circular saws 72, 73, 74, 75 and 76 at a distance above the inclined cross rails, indicated by numerals 6 to 19 inclusive, as indicated by the position of the arm in Fig. 2, but a downward movement of the connecting rod of any one of said arms will cause such arm to swing downwardly to project the teeth of its associated circular saw lower than the` top surface of said cross rails to trim a piece of lumber as it passes such saw in response to the travel of the chain belts 47 to 53 inelusive.

The two saws 72 and 73 are disposed at one end portion of the lumber trimmer where they are adapted to revolve in vertical planes that are separated by one unit of distance, as for instance, one foot, whereby either one of them, as may be desirable in view of the lengthwise position of the adj acent end portion of the piece of lumber to be trimmed, may be actuated to trim said adjacent end portion without changing its lengthwise position, in an obvious manner, to prevent the possible waste of one unit of the length of said piece of lumber.

The other end portion of said piece of lumber may be simultaneously trimmed by actuating the lever 70 of that one of the saws 7 4, 7 5 and 76 that is required to trim said piece of lumber to be of the greatest possible number of units of distance in length, the distance between adjacent ones of said saws 74, 75 and 76 being two units of distance, as, for instance, two feet, or twice the distance that exists between the saws 72 and 73.

The distance between the saws 73 and 74 is equal to such even number of units as may be required to trim pieces of lumber each to be of `a desired minimum even number of units of distance in length, as, for instance ten feet, in which case the distance between the saws 73 and 75 would be twelve feet, and the distance 'between the saws 73 and 76 would be 14 feet; and `to trim pieces of lumber to be sixteen feet, eighteen feet, twenty feet, or any greater even number of feet in length it would only be necessary to add a required number of other equally spaced saws in positions at the right hand of the saw 76.

In the operation of a trimmer which embodies our invention by reason of having its saws in the novel relative positions shown, if it be desired to trim pieces of lumber whose lengths vary from slightly more than fourteen feet to slightly more than fifteen feet, thenA it is possible to trim all of the pieces whose lengths are fifteen feet or over to make them each fifteen feet in length by using the saws 72 and 76, while the remaining pieces could be trimmed to be fourteen feet in length -by using the saws 73 and 76, which effect could not be accomplished were it not for the presence of both of the saws 72 and 73 in their relative positions with respect to the saw 76, since, if only the saw 73 be present all of said pieces of lumber necessarily could be trimmed to be each only fourteen feet in length, thus, there would be a loss of one foot in length in each of some of said pieces. f

Obviously, both ends of pieces of lumber may be simultaneously trimmed, as they are successively carried under and past the saws 72, 73, 74, 75, and 7 6 by the conveyer chain belts 47, 48, 49, 50, 5l and 52, by actuating simultaneously connecting rods 70 in a well known manner to force downwardly the levers of the required two of the saws 72, 7 3, 74, 75 and 76 to cause their teeth to cut through said pieces of lumber.

Manifestly, changes may be made in the distance between the saws 72 and 73, provided relatively corresponding changes are made in the distances between adjacent ones of the saws 74, 7 5, and 76; and a plurality of circular saws may be disposed in like relative positions on any form of lumber trimmer to embody our invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

What we claim is: A lumber trimmer of the class described,

embodying a plurality of circular saws op- 20 1917. l JOHN B. ST. LOUIS, SR.

ELENE E. JOHNSON. Witnesses:

J. D. FISHER, PETER HUsBY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

